HC Deb 02 March 1998 vol 307 c466W
30. Mr. Blizzard

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy for ensuring children are protected from exposure to pornographic material. [30368]

Mr. Michael

It is the Government's policy to protect children from exposure to pornographic material by the use of the existing law in respect of films, videos, publications, broadcast programmes and electronic transmissions between computers as well as indecent photographs or pseudo photographs.

We also encourage other non-statutory schemes which are designed to protect young people from unsuitable material such as the working group of representatives from the Internet Watch Foundation and Internet Service Providers which is devising a common ratings system for United Kingdom internet Users, the voluntary Code of Practice which requires newsagents to refuse to sell 'adult' magazines to persons under the age of 18, and the Teenage Magazine Arbitration Panel (TMAP) which seeks to regulate the contents of teenage magazines.